美国国家公共电台 NPR Izzy Young, Center To The Folk Music Revival, Dies At 90

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

A key figure in New York's folk music scene of the 1950s has died. His name was Izzy Young. Bob Dylan wrote in his memoir¹ that Young's store, the Folklore² Center, was the citadel³ of Americana folk music. Young also produced concerts by the likes of Phil Ochs and Jean Ritchie. Reporter Jon Kalish has an appreciation⁴ of Izzy Young, who died Monday at the age of 90.

JON KALISH, BYLINE⁵: Bob Dylan once described Izzy Young's voice as sounding like a bulldozer. It was a Jewish bulldozer from the Bronx. He first became passionate⁶ about folk dancing. His dive into folk music followed. Here's Young in a 2004 interview from the Museum of Pop Culture archive.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

IZZY YOUNG: Those folk songs told me about my life and other people's lives, stories that I could understand. (Singing) A rich, old woman in our town, in our town did dwell. She loved her husband dearly but another's twice as well. So you get the whole story in 12 words or something.

KALISH: In 1957, Young opened the Folklore Center on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village. It became a magnet for young folkies, says Mitch Blank, a regular there when he was a teenager.

MITCH BLANK: They would come to the Folklore Center as part of a hajj, a pilgrimage in the era when MacDougal Street was, like, the center of the universe.

KALISH: The folkies who showed up included Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Joni Mitchell and the Traum brothers Happy and Artie. Speaking via Skype, Happy Traum says he was in the Folklore Center on opening day.

HAPPY TRAUM: The Folklore Center was kind of a clubhouse for us. It was a place where we could go and hang out, gossip, hear music, jam in the back room. Izzy was very tolerant of all us kids taking the instruments off the walls and leafing through magazines without buying them.

KALISH: Young was also an autocrat⁷ who was known to throw people out of the store he found irritating.

TRAUM: Izzy was kind of like the lord of the manor⁸. We learned to love him. He was just such a character and had opinions about everything.

KALISH: Young convinced the owner of a nearby restaurant to book folk performers in the back room, and that space became Folk City, the most influential⁹ folk venue¹⁰ in New York. Young staged concerts himself, usually charging $1.50 and splitting the door with performers.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

YOUNG: I wasn't selling anything - no beer, no Coca-Cola. It wasn't comfortable. I had benches that I built myself, and people would get up after two hours, and they would be crippled. And I never ever got a complaint.

(SOUNDBITE OF TIM BUCKLEY SONG, "SONG FOR JAINIE")

KALISH: He had a hand in the first New York concerts of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, who drew just 32 people, and Tim Buckley, who recorded an album at the Folklore Center.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SONG FOR JAINIE")

TIM BUCKLEY: (Singing) Got the untortured mind of a woman who has answered all the questions before.

KALISH: In 1961, New York officials banned music in Greenwich Village's Washington Square Park. Izzy Young helped organize a protest, as he told NPR in 2011.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

YOUNG: I say, OK, now we're going to start singing some folk songs. And I have everybody singing "The Star-Spangled Banner." I said, they can't hit us on the head while we're doing that.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTORS: (Singing) Oh, say, can you see...

KALISH: Young's friend, Mitch Blank, says there should be a memorial.

BLANK: I propose a statue of Izzy Young in Washington Square Park to commence immediately.

KALISH: Izzy Young closed the Folklore Center in 1973 and moved to Stockholm, Sweden, after becoming enthralled¹¹ with traditional Swedish fiddle¹² music. He ran that shop and staged concerts until just last year. For NPR News, I'm Jon Kalish in New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SONG FOR JAINIE")

BUCKLEY: (Singing) And Jainie, don't you know, I've been tryin'. Jainie, don't you know?

1 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

2 folklore   

n.民间信仰，民间传说，民俗

参考例句：

• Zhuge Liang is a synonym for wisdom in folklore.诸葛亮在民间传说中成了智慧的代名词。
• In Chinese folklore the bat is an emblem of good fortune.在中国的民间传说中蝙蝠是好运的象征。

3 citadel   

n.城堡；堡垒；避难所

参考例句：

• The citadel was solid.城堡是坚固的。
• This citadel is built on high ground for protecting the city.这座城堡建于高处是为保护城市。

4 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

7 autocrat   

n.独裁者；专横的人

参考例句：

• He was an accomplished politician and a crafty autocrat.他是个有造诣的政治家，也是个狡黠的独裁者。
• The nobles tried to limit the powers of the autocrat without success.贵族企图限制专制君主的权力,但没有成功。

8 manor   

n.庄园，领地

参考例句：

• The builder of the manor house is a direct ancestor of the present owner.建造这幢庄园的人就是它现在主人的一个直系祖先。
• I am not lord of the manor,but its lady.我并非此地的领主，而是这儿的女主人。

9 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

10 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

11 enthralled   

迷住，吸引住( enthrall的过去式和过去分词 )； 使感到非常愉快

参考例句：

• The child watched, enthralled by the bright moving images. 这孩子看着那明亮的移动的影像，被迷住了。
• The children listened enthralled as the storyteller unfolded her tale. 讲故事的人一步步展开故事情节，孩子们都听得入迷了。

12 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。